TAKE BACK THE COURT REACTS TO SCOTUS TERM LIMITS LEGISLATION

“This bill is a reflection of the growing momentum for structural reform of the Court”

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (August 4, 2022) — This week, a group of senators introduced the Supreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization (TERM) Act, which would establish term limits for Supreme Court justices. Take Back the Court Action Fund issued the following statement on behalf of its executive director, Sarah Lipton-Lubet, in response:

“This Supreme Court term limits bill is a reflection of the growing momentum for structural reform of the Court. Nine unelected, unaccountable judges should not have lifetime appointments that give them the power to take away the rights of millions of Americans.

“But as the bill’s lead sponsor, Senator Whitehouse, said, term limits are only ‘one part of the conversation about reforming the Supreme Court.’ That conversation should focus on the disconnect between the will of the American people and the composition of the Court and the policies it imposes on us. This disconnect is a crisis of democracy. It violates the fundamental principle enshrined in our Declaration of Independence that governments derive their legitimacy from the consent of the governed.

“Restoring legitimacy to the Court requires rebalancing it to reflect the will of the people. This cannot wait, and it cannot be left to chance. Court expansion is the only reform that would immediately rebalance the Court after a 50-year stranglehold by the political party that has lost the popular vote in 7 of the last 8 presidential elections and that currently holds a supermajority on the Court.”